Marker
by Hawki
Summary: Oneshot: Most members of the Project thought that Object Rho was a Reaper artifact, a herald of their coming invasion. But a few knew it for what it really was...the Black Marker.


**Marker**

"Keep us whole, unity is forever."

"Doctor Wales, what are you-..."

"Death is only the beginning, keep us whole."

"Wales, are you-..."

"Humans will learn that by death of their worldly spirit, they will be reborn in unity as a-..."

"Demir Wales, snap out of it!"

Amanda Kenson had had it. Just had it. Had it with people who insisted the mass relays had been created by the protheans even when science showed that to be impossible. Had it with short-sighted fools who couldn't see the coming threat and were willing to label Sovereign as a geth ship rather than the Reaper it really was. And ever since Object Rho had been excavated from 157-Golgotha, she'd had it with members of the Project yammering on about...well, things that were liable to make her have "had it." Dreams, whispers...or, in the case of Doctor Wales, yakking on about a "marker" or something.

And as her colleague turned to face her, his eyes harder to focus on than the four eyes typical of a batarian, she wasn't about to emerge from her "had it" status anytime soon either.

"Doctor Kenson..." Wales whispered, clutching something around his neck that looked like some kind of black rock. "Have you heard the word of Altman? Have you come to realize what this object really-..."

"Demir, the only words I'm hearing are those coming from you. And right now, they make about as much sense as the Reapers' cycle of genocide."

"Ah yes, your Reapers...the ones you believe created this."

"And you believe otherwise?"

"_Believe_? I know..."

"Right...you do that."

Kenson wasn't sure how to go about this, caught between a rock and a hard place. Or, in more accurate terms, caught between the Reapers approaching the Aratoht System on one side and the members of the Project on the other. Members who seemed to steadily be losing their objectivity as research on the Reaper artefact continued, as its pulses increased in intensity and frequency as the invading fleet neared. Members who she had to admit, were voicing thoughts that were similar to her own...that the plan to destroy the Alpha Relay may not be the best course of action...

Yet Wales was different. While the others were sprouting nonsense about...well, anything, his was very focussed. This wasn't the first time he'd yakked on about "markers," and "unitology," and a dozen other things that she'd never heard of before. Out of all the members of the Project, perhaps in his own way, Wales was the most stable of them all. So when he continued to speak, Kenson decided to let him.

"Look at the structure, the helix..." the scientist whispered, turning his eyes back to Object Rho (or "the marker," whatever) with a look that could only be described as veneration. "It is as Unitology preaches...the Black Marker is real. Convergence will come."

"And you believe the Reapers will carry this out?"

"The Reapers...God...any method to make us whole."

"Uh-uh...glad to hear it."

So much for being "stable." Religion was anything _but _stable, the discovery of prothean ruins on Mars had demonstrated decades ago. Everything from rewriting scriptures to founding new beliefs such as Interventionary Evolutionism...if Wales had been caught up in "Unitology" or something, that was his business.

Deciding to let the 'scientist' yammer on and prove he was anything but, Kenson stared up at Rho. She supposed Wales's reaction was understandable...since its first vision, of the approaching Reapers...there was something...majestic, about it. As if it were to be worshiped...marker or not...that the Reapers were not monsters, but...

_Crap, I need some coffee._

Leaving Wales to yammer on, Kenson proceeded to do just that. She'd had enough religious rambling for one day.

It was hardly something she felt inclined to do herself...

* * *

_A/N_

_As is the norm for me in regards to crossovers, this is based on (generic) similarities. In this case, Object Rho from _Arrival_. Or, as I immediatly thought of when I first saw it, the Black Marker from _Dead Space_. Hardly intentional I think, but hey, maybe Aratoht will be getting some Unitologists visiting in the near future. Can't be any worse than batarians I guess. ;)_


End file.
